Bersih 2.0 has described Election Commission (EC) deputy chairperson Wan Ahmad Wan Omar's recent accusation of its co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan of poisoning the people and sowing mistrust “as malicious and irresponsible”.
The electoral rights group said at best, Wan Ahmad's (left) statement serves as a distraction from critical concerns raised by the civil society group and Malaysians alike.
“Since Bersih's launch in 2010 as a non-partisan, civil society movement, it has consistently pushed for reforms toward clean, free and fair elections.
“From the 2001 Likas case to the 2012 findings of the Malaysian Electoral Roll Analysis Project (Merap), and now testimonies before the Sabah royal commission of inquiry (RCI), the weight of evidence makes it clear that our call for reforms is based on fact.
“Bersih 2.0 itself has received complaints from the general public, including overseas Malaysians, ranging from electoral irregularities and violence during campaigning, to a lack of clarity on postal voting procedures,” it said in a statement.
According to Bersih, the threat of voting fraud persists under the current state of electoral rolls as documented by Merap's study as well as testimonies on the alleged complicity of government officials in “Ops Durian Buruk” in Sabah.
“Under these conditions, the EC could hardly accuse anyone of spreading a mistrust doctrine when the public can judge for themselves whether they ought to trust the electoral system.”
It was reported earlier this month that Wan Ahmad had asked Ambiga, who is former Bar Council chairperson, not to disrupt the smooth running of the forthcoming 13th general election.
He reportedly claimed that her statements resulted in confusion and affected public confidence.
The electoral rights group said at best, Wan Ahmad's (left) statement serves as a distraction from critical concerns raised by the civil society group and Malaysians alike.“Since Bersih's launch in 2010 as a non-partisan, civil society movement, it has consistently pushed for reforms toward clean, free and fair elections.
“From the 2001 Likas case to the 2012 findings of the Malaysian Electoral Roll Analysis Project (Merap), and now testimonies before the Sabah royal commission of inquiry (RCI), the weight of evidence makes it clear that our call for reforms is based on fact.
“Bersih 2.0 itself has received complaints from the general public, including overseas Malaysians, ranging from electoral irregularities and violence during campaigning, to a lack of clarity on postal voting procedures,” it said in a statement.
According to Bersih, the threat of voting fraud persists under the current state of electoral rolls as documented by Merap's study as well as testimonies on the alleged complicity of government officials in “Ops Durian Buruk” in Sabah.
“Under these conditions, the EC could hardly accuse anyone of spreading a mistrust doctrine when the public can judge for themselves whether they ought to trust the electoral system.”
It was reported earlier this month that Wan Ahmad had asked Ambiga, who is former Bar Council chairperson, not to disrupt the smooth running of the forthcoming 13th general election.
He reportedly claimed that her statements resulted in confusion and affected public confidence.
Bersih reminded the EC that Malaysian civil society has offered to help the commission clean up the electoral rolls.
Efforts to bring everyone together
Efforts to bring everyone together
The NGO added that it had also urged the EC to begin formal discussions with electoral stakeholders such as MyOverseasVote and political parties to address issues concerning postal voting.
"Our efforts to bring everyone together to work towards clean and fair elections are in fact the first step towards re-building public trust in the electoral system.
"Further, it is our view that the lack of clarity on postal voting has arisen because of the last-minute gestures by EC to implement changes to postal voting regulations when these could have been done much earlier."
"Our efforts to bring everyone together to work towards clean and fair elections are in fact the first step towards re-building public trust in the electoral system.
"Further, it is our view that the lack of clarity on postal voting has arisen because of the last-minute gestures by EC to implement changes to postal voting regulations when these could have been done much earlier."
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